


they will be stars

by andyonyx



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mention of insects, mention of stabbing, op had a name crisis today and is projecting, young buddy aurinko, young vespa ilkay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 09:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26849434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andyonyx/pseuds/andyonyx
Summary: buddy and vespa sort through names.
Relationships: Buddy Aurinko/Vespa Ilkay
Comments: 11
Kudos: 37





	they will be stars

Vespa, Vespa, Vespa, Vespa, Vespa.

It is a name that starts with a smile, and ends interrupted when Vespa (Vespa, Vespa, Vespa, Vespa) kisses her interlocutor in the lips. Her kiss is soft but strong, like she’s never ready to let go.

Buddy runs her hands through Vespa’s messy emerald hair, sprawled out in her lap like the sea on a breezy day. Vespa is quite proud of the name she has found. She’s been looking for one that fits her just right for years. A name does not equal its object, of course. The number one would still be itself if it was named two. Vespa knows this. She is herself an individual and with Buddy a pair and with crime a collective. But a criminal’s gotta build a reputation. And her partner must have a quick name between her lips. And she has to title the unfinished project of a person that she is.

Rangian wasps are small, fast and sting to death. Vespa has learnt from them. She handles her knives like they their stingers, crawls, jumps, avoids, and finally stabs. He used to praise her for how she handled the insects, how she protected Him from them. Vespa does not think He knows how to handle them on His own. 

“Darling?”

“Buddy?”

“Look at them.”

Buddy loves sunrises on solar planets. She stays up just to see them sometimes- tonight, she had company. The blue tint of the dome does not stop Vespa from seeing what Buddy is pointing to- the sun is rising and aligns itself with a moon. Vespa never bothered to learn all of the martian moons’ names.

“Aren’t they in love?” Buddy asks with a sly smile.

“Who? The moon and the sun?”

Buddy nods. 

“They’re stars, Bud. And, uh, a satellite, I think.”

“One must name oneself after one’s ideals, my dearest. If one wants to be a star, well…”

Vespa’s smile grows as she sits up. “...one must name oneself after one.”

“Exactly. You know I had to get rid of my father’s name, no matter how much I loved him. The law would find me immediately. And you, of course, cannot keep the name of that awful man after your own. What do you say, darling?” She leans in, her skin warm and hair radiant. “Will you be the moon to my sun?”

They go to sleep right after. They do have a heist the next night, after all. But just some days later, Vespa finds Buddy on her desk, researching old earth languages. They spend hours quietly skimming through words.

“What do you think about Buddy Aurinko?”

“I love it. Vespa Ilkay?”

They’ll take their time, of course. Names do not fit right away. One must mold oneself inside them, Buddy says, and Vespa thinks she is so smart. But when they’re ready, Buddy Aurinko says, when they fit, they will be stars.


End file.
